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Comparison of thermal fatigue behaviour of ASTM A 213 grade T-92 base and weld tubes

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Abstract

Super-heater tubes are subjected to alternate heating and cooling in power plants causing them to crack and eventually fail. This phenomenon is referred to as “thermal fatigue.” In this paper, a laboratory simulation for reproducing the thermal fatigue phenomenon is developed to determine the number of cycles necessary before failure occurs in super-heater tubes. The temperature and strain distributions along the specimen were computed theoretically using ANSYS software for the applied temperature condition. The thermal fatigue test was conducted for both base and shielded metal arc (SMA) welded tubes separately and both passed in the non-destructive tests. These tubes were subjected to thermal cycles from 800°C (accelerated temperature) to room temperature. Oxy-acetylene heating setup was utilized as a heating source, and a water bath was utilized for quenching purposes. The tests were carried out until open cracks were identified. Surface cracks were identified in the base and weld tubes after 90 and 60 cycles respectively. This study reveals that heating and cooling cause thermal fatigue, initiate cracks in the tubes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Production Engineering National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620 015, Tamil Nadu, India

    G. R. Jinu & P. Sathiya

  2. Welding Research Institute, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited Tiruchirappalli, 620 014, Tamil Nadu, India

    G. Ravichandran & A. Rathinam

Authors
  1. G. R. Jinu
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  2. P. Sathiya
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  3. G. Ravichandran
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  4. A. Rathinam
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Sathiya.

Additional information

This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Dae-Eun Kim

P. Sathiya 2006 Doctoral Thesis on Friction welding of similar stainless steels and Evaluation of processed joints, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India. 1996 Master degree on Welding Engineering, Regional Engineering College, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India. 1994 Under graduate Degree on Mechanical Engineering, Government college of Engineering, Salem, University of Madras, Tamilnadu, India. Assistant Professor, Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India. I am working in the area of Welding Technology, Solid state Joining, Materials Behaviour Subjected to Welding, Similar and Dissimilar Materials Welding, Failure Analysis of Weldments, Modeling, Simulation of Welding processes and Welding parameter optimization. I received young technology award 2009, from Indian Welding Society, India and also received young scientist award from Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India. Published thirty papers in international and national reputed journals.

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Jinu, G.R., Sathiya, P., Ravichandran, G. et al. Comparison of thermal fatigue behaviour of ASTM A 213 grade T-92 base and weld tubes. J Mech Sci Technol 24, 1067–1076 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-010-0322-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-010-0322-7

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